The Seattle Kraken fired head coach Dave Hakstol earlier this spring. They've conducted a search to find the franchise's second-ever bench boss ever since. On Monday, they reportedly found their answer. The Kraken are set to name Dan Bylsma as their next head coach, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Bylsma was certainly a name to watch as the team began its search. The veteran coach has spent the last two seasons as the bench boss of the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Firebirds are currently still alive in the Calder Cup Playoffs. In fact, they recently punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.
Hakstol spent three seasons in charge of the Kraken. He led Seattle to the team's first-ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. Seattle took down the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in round one before falling to the Dallas Stars in round two. In 2024, though, the Kraken missed the postseason.
Dan Bylsma brings experience to Seattle
Bylsma is an incredibly experienced coach in the NHL. He has two head coaching stints under his belt. The first opportunity came with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009. The Michigan native helped Sidney Crosby and Pittsburgh defeat his hometown Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.
Byslma continued to lead the Penguins to regular-season success. In fact, Pittsburgh finished with 100+ points in four of his next five seasons. The only season in which they fell short was the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. Even then, the team maintained a 61-win pace over a full 82 games.
However, the Penguins failed to find playoff success. Pittsburgh made just one appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals after 2009. That appearance came in 2013 where they ran into a white-hot Boston Bruins team. Boston swept the Penguins and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
In 2014, Pittsburgh saw enough. Bylsma was fired by new general manager Jim Rutherford and replaced by Mike Johnston. The Michigan native waited another year before his next head coaching opportunity. He took over the Buffalo Sabres in 2015 after the Sabres missed out on then-Red Wings coach Mike Babcock.
Bylsma's tenure with the Sabres was decidedly unsuccessful. He lasted just two seasons in charge behind the Buffalo bench. He reportedly clashed with multiple Buffalo players, including Jack Eichel. Buffalo finished seventh and eighth in the Atlantic Division during his brief tenure.
In 2018, Bylsma returned to the Mitten State. He became an assistant coach of the Red Wings under Jeff Blashill. He coached Detroit for three seasons until he was let go in 2021. The new Kraken bench boss went to the AHL in 2021 as an assistant before Seattle hired him to coach Coachella Valley a year later.
What led to Seattle firing Dave Hakstol
Dan Bylsma certainly had some issues with players in the past. And that is reportedly true of his predecessor, as well. Reports emerged shortly after Seattle's decision that players issued an ultimatum. Either Hakstol was fired or they would seek a move away from the Kraken.
“I was told, at the exit meeting with players, there was a handful of players — and pretty significant players — who made it clear to management that ‘I don’t want to play on this team in the future if Dave Hakstol is still the coach.’ And that forced them to make a change,” ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported on The Point.
However, general manager Ron Francis pushed back at these reports. Francis spoke shortly after letting Hakstol go. He said that no player issued an ultimatum of any kind in any post-season meeting with management.
“That’s not what those meetings are really about. Usually, it’s us telling players what they have to do to prepare for next season, or how we thought they did this season. No one sits there asking them ‘What did you think of the coach?’ That’s not what these meetings are there for,” the Kraken general manager said, via The Seattle Times.
We likely will never know the truth of how players felt about Hakstol. In any event, Francis felt the Kraken needed a new voice in the locker room. And they've reportedly settled on one with loads of NHL experience as well as a Stanley Cup on his resume.
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